Valve’s ‘The International 2’ draws a massive crowd to their Dota 2 tournament, as well as the blossoming eSports scene.
It was a weekend of pure pleasure and excitement for those fortunate enough to attend The International 2 hosted by Valve at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Washington. In one location, numerous countries were represented by the fans and players alike, creating a truly phenomenal atmosphere to behold—an experience which nobody will be forgetting anytime soon.
Dota 2, a multi-player online battle arena game, is known for somewhat long lasting matches—comparable to chess… on speed. Valve hired one of the original creators of the Warcraft III Dota mod, who is only known at this point as Icefrog—a legend in the Dota community, to develop the standalone, free to play version of Dota 2.
While the game is still in beta, there have been a lot of players logging hours, developing gameplay strategies and tactics. The one thing about Dota that differentiates it from most multiplayer games these days is the fact that it’s a team focused game. Communication is a priority, without it, you get stomped. It’s also a game of finesse, along with a steep learning curve. One of the greatest resources for those interested in learning how to play Dota comes from Purge Gamers, called “Welcome to Dota. You suck.” I highly recommend you read this if you’ve only recently heard about the game.
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The crowd in Benaroya Hall was explosive. A full house of fans cheering and chanting (and booing any time the hero known as Naga Siren executed her ultimate ability) showing support not just for the slightly favored teams, but each and every team that took a seat in the soundproof booths on the main stage, a team skilled enough to prove themselves in the TI2 gauntlet. 16 teams of five players from around the world played out a three-day Dota 2 tournament, with the ultimate prize of $1 million to the champion team—but the other final bracket teams didn’t go home empty handed—additional prize money was distributed, tiered in structure, ensuring that the players that had been so dedicated and well-practiced for this event didn’t leave empty handed.
During the finals, the presence of online viewers had reached 567,000 with the inclusion of Chinese spectators. This number alone is astounding because Dota 2 is a fairly new game, however, Dota, as the original Warcraft III mod, has been out for roughly a decade or so, it just hadn’t received the mainstream exposure as delivered by The International 2. To avoid spoiling the results, you can check out the winning teams over at the official Dota 2 site. You can also download the Dota 2 spectator client on Steam and watch the game replays, complete with the live commentary.
Perhaps one of the most talked about moments of The International 2 was the game between Na’Vi and iG, the beautifully orchestrated play combined with the crowd’s reaction is enough to send shivers down your spine:
In my own opinion, eSports is still in a stage of infancy with many issues to extinguish before, say, ESPN dedicates another channel to eSports coverage. I asked fans of the eSports movement what this shiny new element of the gaming culture needs in order for it to be mainstream—popular responses were that the fans do want to see the movement thrive as a more mainstream and recognized culture, but it does end up as an exclusive club that takes kindly to gamers, but a parent or another curious party may not have knowledge of what it is, and a lack of a vehicle for open communication may end up turning a potential interest off.
My questions to event goers of what the eSports community needs to grow weren’t argued against (much), but as a step in the right direction for eSports in general to experience a continuous and healthy growth, the level of maturity needs to rise to the level of expectation that you see in other sports. Now, it’s understood that the players are young, and very new to this level of fame and fandom, and unlike professional athletes, eSports pros don’t have a team of publicists working to safeguard their image or create barriers between them and the media.
This causes all sorts of behavior from the players being interviewed—silly, quirky retorts to otherwise professional questions—to be looked upon from the outside with the stereotypical “video games are child’s play.” This can all change for the better. This can lead to endorsements and more money to invest in new teams, and for regularly scheduled events for us all to look forward to in the pro gaming scene.
The eSports audience is what it is: passionate followers of the types of games they want to see played competitively. The attitude and behavior of pros is easily embraced by fans, it’s the same across the board really—inside jokes, topical humor. It’s not something that will easily be changed, but it’s a necessary change if we do want to witness eSports to become a mainstream staple. As for giving the fans what they want—the pro players absolutely deliver. The level of access they provide to their fans is enough to bring a huge respect to the scene, as well as an unmatched camaraderie those fans get to walk away with.
TeamLiquid.net Director of Operations Matt Weber (aka Heyoka), the JoinDota team, and numerous bloggers from all over. Also sitting among the members of press was Starcraft 2 legend White-RA, and a Dota pro that goes by the name of Blitz. From them I gathered the same emotion and feelings as I did from the fans in attendance: things are getting serious, and that is a beautiful thing.
I have to commend Valve for their hard work and dedication to not only set the tournament up—but flying every team out and accommodating them with hotel rooms and meals. Including those flown out were family members, beta testers, commentators and casters, livestream broadcasters, and all the rest—they did not take a break during the weeks of preparation they committed to. Providing the players and fans a true rock-star experience was one of the many things a lot of the spectators had a lot to say about. So, Valve—the community you continue to embrace with such open arms has been noted a thousand times over. Thank you.
UPDATE: Valve has confirmed the total viewer count at 567,000.
“The Play” video edit by Cool_Myll.
